BFS said closer to winding up

BFS said closer to winding up

SINGAPORE (Reuter): High Court yesterday allowed ING Bank to begin settling at least $126 million (US$90 million) of the known debts of Baring Futures Singapore (BFS).

The plan was to eventually wind up the company and a new firm, Baring Futures International, would start operations in Southeast Asia when feasible, an ING spokesman said.

The court appointed three Price Waterhouse partners as judicial managers of BFS. The three were previously interim judicial managers.

They now have 60 days to present a plan to the company and its creditors to repay all presently known creditors, said Rajan Menon, a lawyer for ING.

Citibank was the largest creditor, owed S$86 million ($61.4 million), followed by Banque Nationale de Paris, which was owed about S$36 million ($25.7 million), Menon told the court.

Futures deals by former Baring's trader Nick Leeson were blamed for the collapse of the Barings group earlier this year. ING of the Netherlands bought Barings in March.

A Television Corporation of Singapore report quoted ING Bank spokesman Wieger Sietsma saying the final debt of BFS could exceed S$126 million.

An ING official declined to discuss details of the court decision.